A big one from the New York underground – with Wayne Horvitz on key boards, Elliott Sharp on guitars, and Bobby Previte on drums. (Jazz, Rock) LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

The insane debut of Big Stick – a record that came out around the same time that Sonic Youth were really taking off, and Pussy Galore were first getting their feet wet – and a set that's as equally noise-filled as the early work of both! The group are a duo – John Gill on guitar and Yanna Trance on drum machine – and the sound is very spare, but very noisy – heavy beats that are almost hip hop meets industrial – colored with lots of freaky, fuzzy guitar lines – and topped with lyrics that have this offbeat sense of wit – all with an approach that's in that mid-80s moment when underground music and performance art were somewhat comfortable bedfellows. Titles include "Shoot The President", "Drag Racing", "I Look Like Shit", "Hell On Earth", and "Jesus Was Born (On An Indian Reservation)" 12-inch, Vinyl record

Heady and heavy work from Billy Bond and La Pesada Del Rock & Roll – a guitar heavy group from Argentina, and one with plenty of blues rock overtones! The guitars are definitely turned up to 11 here – jamming with an intensity to match some of the best hard rock sides from Peru reissued by the Lazarus label in recent years – and like those sets, there's a sound here that's an intensification of earlier beat group modes – taken into much harder territory for the 70s. The production is great – earthy, trippy, and a little bit spooky – and the album's got an oddly unsettling feel, one that's familiar at first, but then increasingly estranged as the record moves on. Quite compelling, and with 16 tracks that include "Dueno De Tu Piel", "El Parque", "Buen Dia Senor Presidente", "Divertido Reventado", "Salgan Al Sol", "La Maquina", "Voy A Ver Un Amigo", "Para Que Nos Sirven", and "La Marcha De San Lorenzo". (Brazil, Rock) CD

Deep Purple may be asking a lot to knock the faces of the presidents off Mount Rushmore, and put up their own images instead – but given the force of this classic early 70s set, they may well have the musical power on their own to carve up a whole mountainside! The album's a ripper right from the start – a tight barrage of fierce guitars and heavy drums from the legendary lineup that included Roger Glover, Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillian, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice – a group so tight, so tremendous, the only way to proper describe them is to encourage you to drop the needle on a classic gem like this! A non-stop barrage from start to finish – with tracks that include "Speed King", "Bloodsucker", "Child In Time", Into The Fire", "Flight Of The Rat", and "Living Wreck". CD

Deep Purple may be asking a lot to knock the faces of the presidents off Mount Rushmore, and put up their own images instead – but given the force of this classic early 70s set, they may well have the musical power on their own to carve up a whole mountainside! The album's a ripper right from the start – a tight barrage of fierce guitars and heavy drums from the legendary lineup that included Roger Glover, Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillian, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice – a group so tight, so tremendous, the only way to proper describe them is to encourage you to drop the needle on a classic gem like this! A non-stop barrage from start to finish – with tracks that include "Speed King", "Bloodsucker", "Child In Time", Into The Fire", "Flight Of The Rat", and "Living Wreck". CD